German Developer Fights Illiteracy with Serious Game

Hamburg-based developer Daedalic is developing a serious game product that aims to fight illiteracy in its native Germany. The game is being developed in partnership with the German Adult Education Association. Daedalic's project will provide educational assistance to Germany's functionally illiterate population, which recent surveys numbered at close to four million people. The game will be distributed for free, and will be available for play at adult education centers, job centers, and via an online download. Funding for the project is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, with additional support from the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research and the German Institute for Adult Education. Daedalic's game will be a part of the government-sponsored Alphabit project, which promotes basic education and literacy in adults. "We have made the development of serious games a part of our business," said Daedalic's Managing Director, Carsten Fichtelmann. "Daedalic Entertainment is focused on producing and marketing games with a strong narrative bent. Such games are ideally suited for educational purposes and this exciting project takes us a significant step further in expanding this part of our business." Daedalic's previous projects include the Nintendo DS puzzler Ankh - Curse of the Scarab King and the 2008 German Game Developers Award-winning PC adventure title Edna & Harvey: The Breakout.